“This is the first time that people other than Fatah members are criticizing Al Jazeera for its behavior. This is a responsible satellite channel that should not be insulting the Palestinian national anthem,” says Dr. Khatib. “The media should play a neutral role, and this was not neutral.”

Walid Omari, the head of Al Jazeera’s offices that cover the Palestinian territories and Israel, defends the station’s programming.

“We did not invent the reworded national anthem. It had been on YouTube for 10 days and our colleague, Ghassan Bin Jaddo, who hosted the discussion program ... did not mean to insult the Palestinian people,” he says. “If the PA and Fatah are so angry with the issue of the national anthem,” he adds, “they should be working on the reconciliation rather than wasting their time onattacking Al Jazeera, which is only a medium.”

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